Student group sends holiday greetings to deployed troops

Greetings from W&MThe W&M Coast Guard Auxiliary University Program created and collected cards for troops overseas as part of Operation Gratitude.
Photo by Erin Zagursky

Cards for troopsChristopher Weber creates a card while waiting for other students to do the same at a table in the Sadler Center. The group collected approximately 77 cards during the week-long effort.
Photo by Erin Zagursky

Words of encouragementStudents stop by the table in the Sadler Center on Friday to write words of encouragement for troops overseas.
Photo by Erin Zagursky

Thank youA student writes a message in one of the cards. Some of the cards contained a single message. Others included several.
Photo by Erin Zagursky

“For the soldiers overseas, whatever capacity they may be
in, something as small as a letter saying 'thank you' or 'happy holidays' reminds
them why they are doing the job they’re doing,” said Christopher Weber ’15, public
affairs officer for the group. “And if you can change just one person’s
outlook, you can potentially change their entire troop, their entire regiment,
their entire group and really create a profound difference in the mentality of
a part of the U.S. military.”

Operation Gratitude is a nationwide effort that sends care
packages to deployed military members. Since the organization’s inception in
2003, more than 815,000 packages have been sent.

Although the operation is a year-round effort, the W&M students decided to focus on the holiday season and set up shop in the Sadler
Center last week to collect the signatures. The messages that people wrote in
the hand-drawn cards ranged from simple words of gratitude to more personal
words of support. Those often came from students with family members who are in
the military, said Weber.

The W&M group, which is part of the Coast Guard Auxiliary’s
Flotilla 67 in Williamsburg, got the idea for the drive from the Piedmont, N.C., Coast Guard
Auxiliary University Program unit, which includes students at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. The two groups
decided to turn the effort into a friendly competition to encourage their
respective members to gather as many greetings as possible. At last count,
William & Mary was winning the wager, with 77 cards collected over Piedmont’s
52, said Weber.

In addition to the cards collected on campus, the W&M group is also receiving a package of cards from Courtland Elementary
School in Spotsylvania, Va. All of the cards will be sent to Operation
Gratitude on Dec. 7.

“My hope is that service members will open these cards and
really understand that there are people back home who have a deep care for what
they are doing, that we understand their service and we understand the effort
they are putting forth,” said Weber.

“My hope is that when they read these cards, they’re just
reminded of the reason that they are out there protecting this country.”